Virginia is adding jobs, and wages are going up. But that’s not true all over the Commonwealth.
Employment is increasing in 10 of the 12 largest cities and counties. And nowhere is that job growth greater than Newport News, which has seen a 4.1 percent increase in the last year. But it’s also seen a 2.4 percent
drop in average weekly wages.
Leslie Stratton at Virginia Commonwealth University says it’s striking that there was a large growth in employment in the same place as there was a negative change in wages. “Certainly employers, when they are looking to hire workers, would prefer to pay lower wages and so the number of people hired tends to be greater when the wages are lower.”
While Newport News is at the top of the list for employment growth, Virginia Beach is at the bottom.
Terry Clower at George Mason University says these numbers reveal a disparity within Hampton Roads. “This is an interesting pattern that we see sometimes in the Hampton Roads region where you get growth in different segments of the community representing their relative different industrial structures.”
Newport News has heavy industry, which is doing well. But Virginia Beach relies on tourism trade, which is not doing quite as well.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
